Las Sabilas is nice if you want somewhere pretty and rustic to stay in and are feeling laid back with nothing to achieve during your stay except hang out. It's popular with San Fran folk and gay couples who seem to have a lovely time exploring the local nightlife and meeting local people.

When I arrived at Las Sabilas from the UK I was charmed by this hideaway in the middle of a bustling city. Bob the owner has a very artistic eye - in fact he is a semi-retired garden designer and the courtyard garden is like something out of the hanging gardens of Babylon. I was staying in a mini apartment - it had a living room and kitchen as well as a gorgeous hand mosaiced bathroom.

When I met Bob he was very charming. And the young Mexican guy Luis who works there as handyman etc is very sweet and laid back. He also is really keen to improve his English so if you stay there you might be able to arrange an intercambio with him.

My problems came when Bob left for a week to do a job in the US. I came to Guadalajara to work - and having little Spanish - and this being my first trip to Mexico - I needed a bit of support. Especially as the job turned out to be quite demanding.

So there were various things where I could have done with a bit of help - like the airline lost my baggage - a phone call in Spanish to the airline would really have made a difference to me. I did ask for this but it didn't happen.

I also needed to get around the city by cab for my new job. And the interpretation through las Sabilas got crossed somewhere and the cab driver thought I was going somewhere totally different - I ended up being late and it cost me extra. You don't order a cab in the usual way through Las Sabilas - they talk to the lady across the road whose husband has a cab and she knows the other taxistas and will call them herself, or get a friend to do it for cash.

Another time I was checking out and moving to the next hotel and trying to get a cab to the same workplace with the same driver- this time when I had marked the school on a city map we had a 5-10 min confused discussion in my bad Spanish and in the end I gave up and walked to the new hotel. Yes I'm ashamed of my impatience because Luis was trying to help me. You know this is the reality - if I had been on holiday, nothing to achieve, such a conversation would have been good fun.. a kind of "let's see where I end up"...

There was no internet in my room at the front of the house - fair enough that I was warned in advance - but then I got bitten by mozzies when taking the laptop into the garden. Then the internet packed in and I asked the other owner of Las Sabilas about it - he was unconcerned and said I would have to go to an internet cafe, which he said was to the right somewhere. I walked up and down in the humidity trying finding it and gave up.

The room only had tiny towels for washing your face and my luggage was missing for 5 days so that was a pain - again it's not like a hotel where you call reception and everything gets sorted for you. The reception area was empty I guess because Bob was away. Lots of little niggles.. I could go on boringly. Again it depends on your situation and how effective you need to be during your stay in Guadalajara.

To balance that I had to iron some trousers for work one morning and asked Luis for an iron and the sweet guy he actually ironed my trousers for me! How lovely is that. So there is something very sweet about this place. It's just to think if you have to get things done to deadline... then it's probably not for you. Also there is a fruit and veg market about 3-4 blocks West of Las Sabilas - I bought fresh fruit and salad vegetables to eat at Las Sabilas.

The next place I stayed at was called La Rotonda - about 2-3 blocks south of Las Sabilas, near the cathedral. It's a charming Colonial style hotel with courtyards and this volcanic I think grey stone pillars and walls.

For me this was much more suitable because one lady at reception had amazing English. She sorted out my cabs very efficiently and they were cheap and the drivers got me there without headaches and U-turns... You can get vouchers that are cheap for the daily buffet breakfast, which is great. Loads of staff, so whenever anything went wrong I had someone to ask and practice my rubbish Spanish on. It's a bit more central if you need to get anywhere by bus. Plus it was about $30 - $40US dollars cheaper a night to stay there. So life got a bit easier for me at La Rotonda.

Good luck with choosing the perfect place for your stay in Guadalajara.